


Another Ride

by KKGlinka



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-10
Updated: 2012-09-10
Packaged: 2017-11-29 15:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/688638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KKGlinka/pseuds/KKGlinka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone on Tumblr wanted Myka riding a horse. So she does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Ride

Helena glanced at the clock, yelped and scrambled out of bed. "I don't mean to be rude, but you might want to dress. I'd rather not be late."

Myka flopped an arm over Helena's habit which lay halfway off the edge of the bed in a feeble attempt to delay their departure. "I don't really want to ride."

"But I want to see you ride." Helena grinned. It was more like she was dying to find out of Myka would retain her composure or resort to wrapping her arms around her horse's neck, but she wasn't churlish enough to say so. "And the Regents advised me to resume any familiar activity I could to better 'maintain my psychological and emotional stability'," she parroted. 

Myka didn't move except to purse her lips in suspicious amusement.

"It's true. You've seen my drive but it's hardly my fault. The last cars I remember were a couple of Daimlers I saw in London and I've seen about as many carriages in this country. So, riding it is," she said with finality, shimmying back into her breeches before reaching for the nearest boot. "And, I had a devil of a time finding a stable that supplied English tack and even they acted as if I were queer."

Myka made a rude series of snorts that devolved into muffled laughter. By the time she finished, her lips were rolled completely inward as she bit them, but at least she'd sat up to watch Helena dress.

Helena sighed pointedly. The joke was getting old. "What did I say this time?"

"Queer," Myka answered cheerfully, grabbing at her jeans and t-shirt. "It's a blanket term for anyone not hetero-normative." She cleared her throat, obviously still amused.

Helena was nonplussed and decided to ignore it all. She couldn't understand modern society's obsession with categorizing sexual behavior as if a person were however they acted. "Fine. I'm queer but we need to make haste."

"You're really dying to see me fall off, aren't you?"

Helena ignored that because it was mostly true. "I thought the American midwest was infamous for its horseback riding, cowboys and indians."

"Native Americans," Myka corrected. "And most ranchers use ATVs and dirt bikes now." She looked up from tying the laces on her hiking boot. "We lived right in the city. There were several ranches and local stables in the area, but I didn't have a car and we couldn't afford it anyway."

"Hm." For a moment, Helena felt gauche. She'd forgotten that Myka's family was of limited means. Helena had never been truly rich, coming from a genteel family, but between writing and investment profits, she'd lived in comparative wealth. Even now, with the Regents' assistance, she'd wrested control back of several investment lines to regain some measure of financial independence. Still uncertain how to reply, she picked up her habit.

Myka quirked a smile at her, likely understanding her discomfort, but elaborating. "The only reason I could fence was because my school had a club with used equipment." She laughed softly, shrugging. "Tracy wanted to ride but had to settle for cheerleading."

"Well, now you will have an opportunity."

* * *

Approximately two hours later, they were in the prairies of South Dakota with the badlands silhouetted in the distance like so many golden teeth rising from the earth.

Helena automatically settled her weight back, pushing down on her heels and her mount obligingly stopped. Then she pressed her lips together to avoid the laughter she knew was about to happen.

"Whoa," Myka said.

Her horse, a rather stubborn appaloosa, kept going.

"Whoa!"

The horse finally stopped, several paces ahead of Helena's, causing Myka to wobble forward in the saddle and grab onto the horn of the saddle's pommel. She also lost a stirrup, though Helena couldn't fathom how anyone could loose one of those Western monstrosities. She wrinkled her nose at the Western tack, but smoothed her expression before Myka glowered at her. 

"You're using some artifact to control your horse telepathically, aren't you?" Myka asked, with a death grip on her reins. Her gelding began to shake his head, rattling the bit in an urgent message to his oblivious rider.

"Soften your hand and for the fifth time, I am not."

Myka dutifully let out her reins so they draped the way the riding coach had demonstrated and even managed to release some of the tension in her right arm. Her left hand stayed clamped on the horn, though, as she felt around with her foot for the lost stirrup.

Helena smiled because Myka hadn't fallen off, not even when her horse had bolted sideways to escape a particularly scary bush a half hour earlier. Except for her vocal envy to Helena's riding skill, she hadn't complained. The fact was, Myka had excellent carriage courtesy of her martial training and was sensitive to her horse's behavior, if unable to interpret most of it.

She nudged her bay's side and the mare sidled forward to stand beside the appaloosa. Then she dropped her reins, relaxing and Myka imitated her actions. Both horses began to graze, occasionally taking a step forward but remaining close to each other out of habit. Helena looked out across the prairie, spotting some gazelles and past them, the sun setting behind the badlands. She sighed to herself. Though the horses were familiar with the land and all its hazards, she knew it was best to head back to the stables before night fell.

"Okay," said Myka, pushing some loose curls out of her face. "You're right. It's beautiful and no, the horses don't actually stink." 

Helena began to smile, then grinned outright. "Then you'll do this again with me?"

"It depends on how much trouble I have walking by the time we get back."

"Marvelous!" At Myka's incredulous expression, she added, "That you'll ride again, not that you're out of condition." Then she winced.

"Real smooth, Romeo," Myka said dryly. "You realize that if I'm so sore I can't walk you'll have to sleep in your own room tonight?"

Helena waggled an eyebrow and and leaned, retrieving her reins and giving Myka a once-over in the process. "I could give you a massage," she suggested.

Myka narrowed her eyes but Helena could see the amused gleam in them as she guided her horse around to follow Helena's. "It better be a good one."


End file.
